http://www.aana.com/aanajournalonline AANA Journal February 2019 Vol. 87, No. 1 49
state lines were now available for interested health-
care providers.^15 The Medicare program is currently
working to promote cost-effectiveness and high-quality
care in remote patient monitoring using telehealth.
Furthermore, the Senate Finance Committee released
a proposal in 2016 for healthcare providers to receive
Medicare payments for telehealth services.^16
Technology and telehealth are catching up with each
other.^17 Advancements in electronic communications
with faster Internet connections, smartphones, tablets,
and other electronic devices have made video confer-
encing with one’s healthcare provider more convenient.
Telehealth is becoming more economical as well.4,5,9,11-14
Telehealth is built on the mission of delivering high-
quality care and includes providing healthcare services
in a timely, effective, and cost-efficient way.^17 Telehealth
will take on a prominent role in healthcare as we con-
tinue into the age of digital technology, and as investiga-
tors have pointed out, “it is vital to remain on the cutting
edge of this new technology to achieve the success and
advancement of the specialty of teleanesthesiology”.^12
REFERENCES
AUTHORS
Diane C. Schoen, DNAP, CRNA, was a student in the Doctorate of Nurse
Anesthesia Practice Program at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth,
Texas, at the time this article was written. She currently practices in Lima,
Ohio, and is an adjunct faculty member at Lourdes University Nurse
Anesthesia Program in Sylvania, Ohio.
Katherine Prater, PhD, is an associate professor in the Chemistry
Department, Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Program at Texas Wesleyan
University.DISCLOSURES
The authors have declared no financial relationships with any commercial
entity related to the content of this article. The authors did not discuss
off-label use within the article.